Nikephoros I
Nikephoros I (Greek: Νικηφόρος; Latin: Nicephorus; 750 – 26 July 811) was Byzantine emperor from 802 to 811. He began his career as genikos logothetēs under Empress Irene, but later overthrew her to seize the throne. Prior to becoming emperor, he was sometimes referred to as "the Logothete" (Greek: ὁ Λογοθέτης) and "Genikos" or "Genicus" (Greek: ὁ Γενικός), in recognition of his previous role.
"Nicephorus I" redirects here. For other uses, see Nicephorus I (disambiguation).Nikephoros I
During his reign, Nikephoros engaged in military campaigns against both the Arabs and the Bulgarians, although the outcomes were varied. While leading an invasion into Bulgaria, he suffered a defeat and was killed at the Battle of Pliska.
Background[edit]
According to several sources outside the Byzantine context, such as Michael the Syrian, al-Tabari, and Mas'udi, there is a tradition that suggests Nikephoros had Ghassanid Arab origins and that he descended from the final Ghassanid ruler Jabala ibn al-Ayham.[1][2][3] Al-Tabari assets that he obtained this information from Byzantine sources,[4] although no surviving Byzantine chronicle explicitly mentions the emperor's ethnic background.[1] Paul Julius Alexander, a modern scholar, proposes that al-Tabari might have indeed transmitted information found in Byzantine writings. He points to an apocalyptic text that has been preserved in a "hopelessly corrupt" copy, where it is mentioned that the emperor hailed "from the race of Gopsin".[4] The historian Nadia Maria El-Cheikh transmits another, alternative, tradition from Arab sources (specifically al-Masudi), in which Nikephoros supposedly originated from the Iyad tribe; she doubts both traditions, believing that they are simply legends.[5]
By an unknown wife Nikephoros I had at least two children: